Month: October 2023

Is this the time for the Orange volleyball team? They certainly looked like a team ready to make a trip to Reynolds Coliseum in Saturday when they defeated J.H. Rose 3-1 in the state quarterfinals on Saturday. The Lady Panthers earned its first trip to the regional semifinals since 2004 with a victory over the Rampants, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions. Ella Wimsatt finished with 19 kills, 33 digs, two aces, one assist and one block as the Lady Panthers improved to 26-4, its best mark since they reached the 2004 3A State Championship match. Middle blocker Ava Wilkerson had 14 kills with four blocks, including a crucial point in the fourth set that gave Orange a 21-19 lead. Senior libero Sadye Porter had her usual solid defensive performance with 13 digs, along with two assists. Orange is now one match away from the state championship match. They will host Carrboro tonight (Tuesday) at 6PM inside Orange Gymnasium. The Jaguars, who have won two state championships, defeated Orange 3-1 on August 16 in Jaguars Gymnasium. The Lady Panthers defeated Carrboro 3-1 last year in Hillsborough. The winner will face either North Iredell or Ashe County for the 3A State Championship in Raleigh on Saturday.

Orange volleyball’s Ella Wimsatt, Ava Wilkerson & Sadye Porter discuss playoff win over J.H. Rose

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Reaching a regional championship game means something to Orange volleyball. It has only happened twice before.

When you beat J.H. Rose to do it, it means a little more.

The Rampants have won five Eastern Regional Championships, including last year’s victory over Cedar Ridge in Greenville. They have claimed three state championships.

On Saturday, pressed with playing its best, the unique blend of veterans and underclassmen combined to play its best game of the season and knocked Rose out of the state playoffs in the 3A state quarterfinals.

In possibly her best game in a season full of stellar presentations, senior Ella Wimsatt had 18 kills and 33 digs, while sophomore Aubrey Jordan registered 17 kills as Orange defeated Rose 3-1 at Orange Gymnasium on scores of 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19.

It was a double dose of good news for Orange on Saturday. In Fayetteville, 4th-seeded Carrboro rallied from two sets down to beat Cape Fear 3-2. That means Orange will host the 3A Eastern Regional Final in Hillsborough on Tuesday night at 6PM.

It is the third time in eight years that the East Final has been played in Hillsborough. In 2021, Cedar Ridge swept Rose. In 2015, Asheboro knocked off Cedar Ridge in four sets.

“We know coming in that they were a very well respected volleyball team,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “So we focused that we were tightened up on some of the Xs and Os. The girl respect Rose and knew they had to play their best game. I believe that they did that.”

It’s the first time since 2019 that Rose hasn’t reached the Final Four of the state tournament.

For the fifth straight match, Heverly started freshman Sawyer White with sophomore Rachel Silcott as the two alternated between setter and outside hitter. The arrangement, which started in a loss to Cedar Ridge in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament championship game two weeks ago, started shaky but has improved with every match. White finished with 16 digs, 23 assists and six kills. Silcott came away with 27 assists, nine digs and four kills.

Heverly made the change to increase Orange’s finishing weapons, which paid dividends against Rose. Five different Panthers had kills in the fourth and decisive set.

Senior libero Sadye Porter  had 14 digs.

Orange opened strong with a 10-2 run. Junior Abby Silinski had back-to-back aces while Wimatt registered her first kill of the day to put the Lady Panthers ahead 8-2. The closest the Rampans could get was 22-18 after they racked up five straight points, with a block and a kill by freshman Kate Wallen. Moments later, Wallen was whistled for walking into the net, leading to an Orange side out. Jordan had the final two kills of the frame, including on set point.

Rose used its power at the net to control the second set, which they never trailed. Senior Emily Smith had eight kills and a block for the Rampants in the second frame alone. A kill by Rose senior Shea Jenkins put the Rampants ahead 18-11. Orange mounted a rally when Wimsatt scored a kill, followed by an ace to reduce the Rose lead to 21-17. But Smith scored kills on the final three Rampants points to even the match.

The two teams opened the third set with an 8-8 tie before Wimsatt took control. After White scored off an assist from Silcott to put Orange ahead for good in the set at 9-8, Wimsatt had three straight kills during a 6-1 Orange run to put the lead at 21-13, leading to a Rose timeout. Naturally, Wimsatt’s spike on set point gave Orange a 2-1 lead.

Orange struggled to take the lead in the fourth set. Rose wouldn’t allow the Lady Panthers to score off serves, building a 10-8 lead off kills from Smith and Jenkins. Sophomore Ava Wilkerson, who finished with 14 kills and five blocks, evened the set at 13 with a rejection of an attack by Jenkins. Jordan inserted her influence with her best finishing sequence of the day down the stretch. After Wimsatt scored an ace to give Orange a 17-16 lead, Wimsatt scored two crucial digs on a point that ended when Jordan scored off a feed from White. Silcott followed with another kill.

Rose came back with three straight point to even the set at 19-19, ending with a kill from Wallen. That’s when the Orange sophomores came through with their biggest plays. Jordan earned a side out with an overhand blast from the near post. With Porter serving, Wilkerson scored her third block of the set off an attack by Shea.

Jordan and Wilkerson each had kills to set up match point at 24-19. Rose failed to return Porter’s serve, leading to the Orange student section rushing the floor in jubilation.

On Tuesday, Orange will face Carrboro for the second time this year. On August 16, the Jaguars started its season with a 3-1 win over the Lady Panthers at Carrboro Gymnasium. They will arrive in Hillsborough on a 24-match winning streak.

Orange will go for its second-ever appearance in a state championship match. They reached the 2004 final, where they lost to Mooresville.

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There’s no need to ask Gabriel Schmid what his goal is for his final cross country race at Orange High this Saturdfay.

Ever since he crossed the finish line first to win the 3A State Cross Country championship last November, his goal has been to repeat.

The only thing he would like to change in his final trip to the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville would be for his teammates to join him on stage as team state champions.

For the second time in three years, the Orange men’s cross country team won the Mideast Regional Championship on Saturday at Franklinton High School. Running on the grassy terrain in Louisburg, Schmid won the individual championship, crossing the finish line at  16:19.50, beating out Ethan Rich of Western Harnett by seven seconds.

A week after the Panthers won the Central Carolina Conference championship, Orange’s top four runners all finished in the top eight. Sophomore Lucas Van Mater finished fourth overall at 16:39.69, while senior Alden Cathey came in sixth (16:59.41). Sophomore Myles Jermyn crossed the finish line eighth (17:06.22)

It was a full circle experience for Schmid. In 2021, Orange won the Mideast Championship behind the leadership of then-senior Spencer Hampton, who came in second overall. Schmid, then a sophomore, finished fourth overall.

“The course was amazing,” Schmid said. “It was like a golf course. The grass was perfect and our team was phenomenal”

Orange’s Nolan Hufner came in 19th to help the Panthers hold off Northern Nash for the team championship. The Panthers finished with 38 points, while the Knights had 60.

The Orange men have now won three straight conference championships, as well as two of the last three Mideast Conference titles.

For the second year in a row, Cedar Ridge sophomore Ryan Matthews qualified for the state championships individually. Matthews finished 21 at 18:27.03. Edgar Ibarra finished 26th for the Red Wolves at 18:35.53.

Last year, Schmid became just the second runner in Orange history to win a state cross country championship. In 1997, Bradsher Wilkins won the 4A State Championship as a junior. The following year, Wilkins repeated as state champion.

As a team, Orange is the second seed going into Saturday’s state championships. Croatan, who edged Orange during the North Carolina Runners Elite Invitational in Kernersville on October 14, will be the top seed. Croatan had 69 points during the event while Orange finished with 78.

Cedar Ridge has had one individual men’s cross country champion in school history. A.J. Tucker won a pair of 2A State Championships, the first in 2011. He repeated in 2012.

The Cedar Ridge women’s team qualified for the state championships with a fourth place finish in the Mideast Regionals. Led by junior Naomi Dyreng, who won the Central Carolina Conference individual championship last week at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington, the Red Wolves finished third as a team with 123 points. Carrboro won the team regional championship with 56 points. Walter Williams, who edged Cedar Ridge to take the CCC team title, finished second at 111 points.

Dyreng finished third overall with a time of 20:10.56. It will be Dyreng’s second trip to the state championships.

Freshman Brinkley Robinson of Franklinton won the state championship, pacing the field at 19:35.34. Robinson finished thirty seconds ahead of runner-up Addison Barlett of Durham School of the Arts, who came in at 20:05.06.

Cedar Ridge junior Abigail Klaitman finished seventh at 21:13.84. Red Wolf freshman Kate Finnegan finished 24th in her first regional meet at 23:47.44. Anna Peterson of the Red Wolves came in 42nd. Red Wolf freshman Safiyya Frej (52nd at 26:30.09), Samantha Quade (54th at 26:42.72) and Gracie Whitaker also finished for the Red Wolves.

Orange’s top female finisher was senior Channing Mahaney, who came in 57th. Grace Pell came in 58th for the Lady Panthers. Arely Cabarera also competed for Orange.

If there was ever a sign of how deep the Central Carolina Conference was in football, it came Saturday morning.

Despite finishing 3-7, the Orange football team is in the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017, when current N.C. State linebacker Payton Wilson did almost everything to get the Panthers to the Big 8 Conference championship.

Despite losing to Eastern Alamance 41-27 in its home finale at Auman Stadium on Friday night, the Panthers actually improved on its RPI rating and drew a #29 seed in the 3A East Region. The Panthers will travel to Hanford Stadium in Graham to face Southern Alamance, the CCC Champions.

On Friday night, the Patriots wrapped up an undefeated run through the league with a 16-14 win over Western Alamance, clinching its first outright conference championship in over 20 years.

Southern Alamance defeated Orange 49-0 on October 13, a night where Patriots running back Jackson Parrish rushed for three touchdowns. Senior Logan Faust ran for 153 yards and two scores.

The Patriots (9-1) moved to 3A over the summer after spending two years as a 4A team in the DAC-VII Conference, where they opposed teams like Chapel Hill, Jordan, Riverside and Hillside.

While Orange hasn’t had a victory since they defeated Cedar Ridge on September 29, they are being rewarded for playing a difficult schedule. Of the Panthers ten opponents, eight made the state playoffs. That includes first-year school Southeast Alamance, who Orange defeated 33-20 on August 18 in the season opener. Vance County, who pulled out a 28-19 win over the Panthers in Henderson on September 1, finished undefeated and won the Northern Lakes Conference.

“I don’t care who we play,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford after Orange’s . “I just want to make the playoffs. It’s something that this program needs. I know it’s going to be tough sledding. I know we gotta play teams that are at the top, but we see that every week. The program needs that. Guys around here need to know that we’re good enough to make the playoffs. It’s part of taking steps forward.”

On Friday night, the Eagles prevailed in a penalty-marred matchup more reminiscent of a preseason jamboree than the regular season finale. The two teams combined for 27 penalties amassing 233 yards. The Eagles won despite committing three turnovers, plus a turnover on downs at midfield in the third quarter when a 4th-down conversion was botched because of a fumbled snap.

In his final game at Auman Stadium, senior Tyler Narold caught a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass. The Panthers took a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hank Nunnery with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter.

The Eagles quickly responded when quarterback Jason Ball threw a 44-yards pass to Charlie Deacon. Running back Joshua Murray carried the ball into the red zone off a 15-yard gain, then scored the Eagles opening touchdown off a six-yard run. Reagan Sawyer’s extra point put the Eagles ahead 7-6.

The Eagles drove to the Orange 16-yard line late in the first quarter, but senior Jayden Medley recovered a fumble. On the next play from scrimmage, Eastern’s Jamari Gibbs picked off a pass from Nunnery.

Murray, who rushed for 104 yards, scored a touchdown from seven yards out early in the second quarter to go ahead 14-6. On the subsequent kickoff, Orange freshman Kayden Bradsher ran it back 85 yards. Only Gibbs stopped Bradsher from scoring.

Brandon Cummings caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nunnery to put the Panthers within two points. Late in the first half, Eagles junior running back Tyrek Samuels, who finished with 110 yards to go over 1,000 on the season, notched his first touchdown off an 11-yard run.

Samuels would add another touchdown in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Orange sophomore linebacker Jaylen Starks picked off a pass from Ball and returned it 36 yards. Nate Sorrells, in his final game in Hillsborough, scored a touchdown from three yards out.

When August practice started for the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team, the goal was to make the state playoffs.

It was a common refrain. The Red Wolves haven’t been since 2016 when current Chicago Bears punter Trenton Gill played for the Red Wolves, coached by Chris Walker.

Nonetheless, it felt like a lofty goal after the Red Wolves finished 5-15-1 last year.

Then the Red Wolves started 2023 with six wins in its opening nine games. Needless to say, their goals got bigger.

Tonight (Monday), the Red Wolves will host a state playoff game inside Red Wolves Stadium for the first time since 2015.

The Red Wolves received a #14 seed for the 3A State Playoffs. They will host Southern Lee, the #19 seed from the 4A/3A Sandhills Conference tonight at 6PM.

Along the way, the Orange men’s soccer team has made its own history. The Panthers also made the field of 64 for the 3A State Tournament, receiving a #26 seed. The Panthers will journey to Sanford tonight to face Lee County, the champions of the Sandhills Conference.

It’s the first time in the 35-year history of the program that Orange (8-7-3) has made the state playoffs in back-to-back years. Orange sewed up its spot in the state playoffs with a 2-0 victory over Eastern Alamance last week in Mebane. Traver Bruhns, in his final regular season game, scored two goals. It was the first brace of his high school career.

Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly earned the clean sheet. The winner of Lee County/Orange will face either Western Alamance or Walter Williams in the second round.

It’s a bittersweet draw for Cedar Ridge, who finished the regular season 12-4-3. While they’re hosting a state playoff game, they nearly made history by winning the Central Carolina Conference championship. It would have been the first men’s soccer championship in school history. Two weeks ago, the Red Wolves played to a scoreless tie at Western Alamance. They maintained the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Warriors and were two wins away from taking the crown. But on October 18, the Red Wolves lost to Walter Williams 1-0 on a goal by Anderson Aguilera with 6:42 remaining in regulation. Western Alamance closed with decisive wins over Person and Southern Alamance to take the conference crown.

“I couldn’t imagine that it would have gone that way this year,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chancey Brummell. “Last year was a good group of kids. I don’t think they played as a team and it showed. I thought going into this year we were going to be competitive. But if you had asked me ‘Coach, would Cedar Ridge be in contention to win the conference?’ I would have told you no. I didn’t think we were going to be up there with the likes of a Western (Alamance) and a Williams.”

If Cedar Ridge’s season could be defined in one imagine, it would be Salomon Hernandez running across the field after scoring on a header against Western Alamance with 4:17 remaining in regulation. Goalkeeper Erik Galunas would earn the clean sheet as the Red Wolves defeated the Warriors 1-0 on September 20.

“When we won the first few games, I knew then we were going to become something special,” Brummells said. “It was disappointing to come up short against Williams last week. But compared to where we were last year, I will take that any day. It’s impressive not just for the players, but I think for the program and the school. It’s shows other players that Cedar Ridge soccer is going somewhere.”

It’s Cedar Ridge’s first trip to the 3A State Playoffs since 2016, when they lost to Corinth-Holders 1-0 in the opening round. The Red Wolves were an 11-seed. Back then, the 3A State Tournament was a 32-team tournament.

The last time Cedar Ridge hosted a state playoff game inside Red Wolves Stadium, it was 2015. They defeated Northwood 2-0.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior volleyball setter Rachel Alverson. This season, Alverson surpassed 1,000 career assists. Last week, Cedar Ridge helped the Red Wolves upset crosstown rival Orange to win the Central Carolina Conference Tournament at Panther Gymnasium. Against the Lady Panthers, Alverson had a season-high 54 assists. It was the fourth straight year that Cedar Ridge won a conference regular season and/or tournament championship. This year, Alverson finished with over 900 assists. She had 40 or more assists in a game nine times in 2023 for a Cedar Ridge team that finished 17-9. Alverson is a two-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge. She also plays women’s soccer. Alverson’s final win as a Red Wolves volleyball player may go down as her greatest game ever. On Tuesday night at Red Rams Gymnasium, Cedar Ridge defeated Franklinton, The Big East Champions, 3-2 in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. Alverson finished with 46 assists as the Red Wolves advanced to the Round of 16 in the 3A State Playoffs for the fourth straight year. A trademark of Cedar Ridge teams in 2023 will be Alverson setting up her middle blocker and friend Addie Reid for thunderous kills that always electrified Red Wolves Gymnasium. Alverson will resume her soccer career in February.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Rachel Alverson

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior women’s tennis player Shannon Sollars. This season, Orange had its fifth straight winning season and Sollars had the most overall wins of any player on the team. Sollars played at #2 singles  and had a record of 12-1. She also qualified for the Mideast Regionals as a doubles player with her sister, Erinn. Shannon and Erinn finished with a 14-3 record. Last year, Erinn and Shannon qualified for the 3A State Doubles championship. Orange also qualified for the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs this year. Last week, in its opening round match against Cedar Ridge, Erinn and Shannon Sollars defeated Cameron Mayhew and Adeline Cummings 9-8, winning the tiebreaker 7-5  as the Lady Panthers were narrowly defeated by the Red Wolves. In the 3A Mideast Regionals, the Sollars sisters defeated a team from Harnett Central to advance to the second round. Shannon has been a member of the varsity team since her freshman year. During that time, Orange advanced to the second round of the State Team Tournament in 2021 and 2022. As a sophomore, she was a starter on the 2022 team that won the Central Carolina Conference Championship, the first tennis team in Orange High history to win a conference title.

Orange Panther of the Week: Shannon Sollars

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